Zara

The undisputed queen of the high street crop, Zara dominates both Spanish and international markets. Apart from low prices, its success lies in the speed with which it has copies of catwalk fashions on the racks and that fact that new stock arrives weekly. The racks can be intimidatingly full, particularly at sales time, but there are excellent shoes, bags, suits, casual wear, denim and evening outfits all in young and up-to-the-minute styles. It pays to take time to browse. Be warned that lines at the checkout are long on Fridays and Saturdays, when all Madrid's bright young things flock in to buy a new outfit for the weekend. METRO: Argüelles